Giving Up by Giving In: Still Reviewing CASANOVA: ACEDIA

I continue to write about Matt Fraction and Fábio Moon's CASANOVA: ACEDIA for Comics Bulletin.

It's short, so I'll just put the whole thing up here:

CASANOVA IV: ACEDIA #7 (Image Comics)

(W) Matt Fraction, (A/C) Fábio Moon

(Editor’s Note: The writer of this review wanted to give this “all the stars”, but our scale only goes up to 5)

It’s sometimes best to assume that you don’t know that you know what you don’t know that you know and then grab the bottle and head for the ocean. But sometimes when you do know that you didn’t know that you knew it already, it makes for shaky times and strange bedfellows.

Here’s what I know I don’t know about Casanova: Acedia #7:

1. What the fuck is going on.
2. Why that is spectacular.
3. When I can get more.

Here’s what I know I do know about Casanova: Acedia #7:

1. Everything is going on.
2. It is fucking spectacular.
3. I need more.

Given all this, it’s hard to even put the rubber to the road or light the head of the man screaming across the highway. Fraction and Moon just keep adding to a story that is fundamentally being told through subtraction, while maintaining a recursive narrative that keeps unfolding along a linear plane.

“How can the goddamn sunrise be different?” It can’t be if you remain the same person.

Strange forces continue to undermine and explode. Certain truths become that much more evident. Puzzle pieces once thought lost are now layered between slices of bread to make the most delicious sandwich you’ve ever eaten. I’m not even quoting Bowie anymore.

This thing has legs and the rest of us are running to catch up.

Because it’s about character — not just who but how.

Is there a fundamental self no matter who you think you are? Is there a “you” behind every mask you’ve put on (or has been put on by everyone else)? What makes a hero besides other people saying you’re one? Who gets to define the moral system? What’s up, chicken butt? We’ve got fundamental questions on the plate next to that pickle. Which one are you gunna eat first?

Don’t think too hard about this. You don’t have time. The next course is being served.

If you’re not reading Casanova: Acedia then don’t start without going back to the very start and then move forward in the circular motion that this sort of story demands. Trust that Fraction and Moon understand what they are doing and have your best interest at heart. Or not. I don’t know what you know, but I sure as hell know I love Casanova: Acedia #7 and everything is going on and it’s spectacular and I want more.

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 11/7/16 to 11/13/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.


COMICS CRITICISM

* John Seven reviews Tom Gauld's MOON COP, which he says is "about believing in something so much that you are willing to go through the motions of fulfilling a role that has no purpose in order to offer some concrete structure that proves it actually exists, even as other forces work against that hopeful fantasy."

* Andy Oliver on WHAT IS "HOME"? by Anja Uhren, a book that "invites us to consider how we characterise a concept thatt on one level embodies the most comfortable familiarity and yet on another proves to be nebulous and almost intangible in its definition."

* Shea Hennum's MOEBIUS AND BEYOND: AN INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN COMICS over on Paste.

* Phillipe LeBlanc takes a long and circuitous route in his review of Charles Forsman's REVENGER. It's fascinating, in a way, to witness this piece unfold and veer into unexpected places filled with sudden, off-putting tonal shifts and personal confessions that tighten your stomach in that kind of right-before-a-car-wreck way (also, just an opinion, but The Beat sure could use a copy editor).

WHATNOT

* Tim Goodyear interviews SHAKY KANE. They chat about a wide range of topics, including Kane's new book, Cowboys and Insects.

* 10 CARTOONISTS REACT TO TRUMP WINNING THE ELECTION

Four Shots at BLAMMO #9

For the past decade, cartoonist Noah Van Sciver has been publishing his one-man anthology series, BLAMMO. Kilgore Books has recently released the latest in the series and I was so impressed with it that I knew I had to gather some of my favorite writers to devote some time and energy into unpacking our reactions.

Given that, Justin Giampaoli, Keith Silva, and Alex Mansfield were tasked with choosing a single page or panel from Blammo #9 and use it as a platform for talking about the book as a whole. None of them read what the other was working on during this process. As testament to the thematic unity of Blammo #9, the writers all ended up talking about the same ideas of spirituality, artistic integrity, and the human desire to connect.

READ THE WHOLE REVIEW HERE

Justin Giampaoli's choice

Elkin's choice

Alex Mansfield's choice

Keith Silva's choice

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 10/31/16 to 11/6/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

Before that, though, let me implore you to please

GO VOTE!

COMICS CRITICISM

* Greg Hunter on THE SHIRLEY JACKSON PROJECT, edited by Robert Kirby.

* John Seven reviews Guy Colwell's IN FOX'S FOREST, "... a timely fable of ill-effects of coercion and detainment, of being true to yourself, of what is normal..."

* Ben Cowles' short review of TETRIS: THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY by Box Brown

* "A coloring book is a game played between the original artist and the person picking up drawing tools to fill in lines." Annie Mok reviews Anders Nilsen's new coloring book, A WALK IN EDEN 

WHATNOT

* Keenan Keller interviews BENJAMIN MARRA about his newest book, American Blood, and so much more.

* Daniel Harmon interviews JULIA GFRORER about her new book from Fantagraphics, Laid Waste.

* "This world is absolutely, unconscionably terrifying." Dan Nadel interviews ANYA DAVIDSON about her life, work, music, and her book, Band For Life.

* Ryan Claytor interviews TOM HART on the MSU Comic Art and Graphic Novel Podcast Episode #3 (as well as discusses all sorts of things going on at the Michigan State University Comics Studies program)

* Andy Oliver and the rest of the Small Pressganged over on Broken Frontier celebrate FIVE YEARS of publishing some of the best small press reviews by celebrating some of the creators who have been covered there since 2011.

* Michel Fiffe is offering a subscription to the next 6 issues of COPRA which includes issues 29 - 31, plus the final 3 installments of Copra Versus.

* Lars Martinson talks about the realities of self-publishing his latest book, TONOHARU: PART THREE, in terms of costs and distribution. Spoiler: Nobody's getting rich.

* Always a great read, Brian Hibbs' TILTING AT WINDMILLS series looks at The Long and Diminishing Tail of Graphic Novel Series.

* Looking for great comics criticism? Sometimes you have to support it! To that end, ROB CLOUGH has launched a Patreon. Please consider throwing him a couple of bucks a month. 

* READ THIS: J.A. Micheline's BLACK HEROISM AND "THE MAN" IN LUKE CAGE. 

* As goes San Francisco, so often goes the rest of the country. With that in mind, please read Tim Redmond's piece WHY TECH MONEY WANTS TO RULE SF

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 10/24/16 to 10/30/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* Alex Hoffman on Will Dinski's TRYING NOT TO NOTICE, "a comic that explores the fundamental brokenness of people and the whitewash surfaces we paint over them."

* Matthew Daley reviews Simon Moreton's PLANS WE MADE, a book "with both a nostalgic warmth and tinge of regret that most readers can relate to."

* Andy Oliver takes a look at Rachael Smith's WIRED UP WRONG where "[t]here's a feeling of Smith not just creating for an audience herre but also seeking to make sense of the challenges she faces for herself..."

* Rob Clough reviews RUINS by Peter Kuper, "a story where love doesn't triumph over everything, as the happy ending here is that both characters find self-actualization apart from each other."

* Also, last week, Rob Clough wrote this excellent review of Noah Van Sciver's BLAMMO #9

* John Seven reviews two books from Minneapolis-based publisher UNCIVILIZED BOOKS, Caitlin Skaalrud's Houses of the Holy and Joann Sfar's Pascin.

* Paul Tumey really, really likes MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS by Emil Ferris, and does an excellent job of telling us why that is.

* Megan Purdy says that Margaret Atwood's ANGEL CATBIRD is "weird".

WHATNOT

* Sean T. Collins audaciously lists THE 33 GREATEST GRAPHIC NOVELS OF ALL TIME and then SARAH HORROCKS does it too! 

* And then Robin McConnell interviews SEAN T. COLLINS about all the (many) things getting done by Sean T. Collins

* Philippe LeBlanc interviews ANYA DAVIDSON about her new release from Fantagraphics, Band For Life.

* Alex Townsend's SEX, NUDITY, AND RAPE IN HORROR COMICS: WHERE ARE THE NEW LINES?

* "[T]he truest thing about a person, that person's real story, is just as often the thing withheld -- the silent thing -- as the thing offered."  So reads a passage from Vinson Cunningham's look at Brandon Stanton's new book HUMANS OF NEW YORK: STORIES.

* Wesley Morris' WHY POP CULTURE JUST CAN'T DEAL WITH BLACK MALE SEXUALITY.

* Steve Cutts video for Moby's song ARE YOU LOST IN THE WORLD LIKE ME?

* Kate Klonick's HERE'S WHAT IT WOULD TAKE FOR TWITTER TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT ITS HARASSMENT PROBLEM.

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 10/10/16 to 10/16/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* "The act of processing grief, and the person you become afterwards, is a fertile ground for creative work." Alex Hoffman reviews SAFE DISTANCE by James K. Hindle and One Percent Press. 

* Tucker Stone continues to update his SPX 2016: THE HITS offering mini-reviews of books he picked up at the show. He's now added books by Roman Muradov and Charles Forsman and Melissa Mendes. 

* Phillippe LeBlanc takes a look at SHORTBOX #2, the international "comic box" currated by Zainab Akhtar with support from Clark Burscough, which "is quickly establishing itself as an incredible distribution force in alternative comics."

* Scott Cederlund reviews Tom Gauld's MOONCOP, which he summarizes perfectly by saying, "Ultimately, that's what the book is about, the quietness of life." 

* Megan Purdy on Kate Beaton's STEP ASIDE, POPS which "feels like an isolated chapter of a much longer tale, rather than a complete work in and of itself."

* Reading Gaiman, Nowlan, and Vozzo's "THE CASTLE" in The Kindly Ones had a profound effect on the young Alex Mansfield. Here, he revisits it to evaluate "what precisely worked so damn well."

* And if you read nothing else, please read Ray Sonne's powerful and personal and beautifully written piece on THE ENIGMA by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo.

WHATNOT 

* Tim Hodler interviews TOM SPURGEON about his involvement in CXC, his new book on Fantagraphics (We Told You So), and his site, The Comics Reporter. Towards the end, Spurgeon says, "My main goal in my professional life, and I would suggest all of our main goals might include this because the 'comics for everyone' fight has concluded on some fronts and still advances on others, is to make things better for those involved; yes, the readers, but primarily the makers of this material. It sickens me with all of the money made overall that we're still in a situation where so many creators have to harm their lives in order to make art in a medium we love." 

* Joseph Marczynski interviews SARAH GLIDDEN about Rolling Blackouts and using comics for storytelling.

* Chase Magnett interviews BOX BROWN about his new book, Tetris. 

* "In a time where mainstream comic publishers are making excuses for why marginalized voices on, and off, the page don't sell, you have this project smashing every single one of them." Ardo Omer on THE IMPORTANCE OF CHECK PLEASE!, YEAR TWO'S KICKSTARTER. 

* Lars Martinson's TONOHARU: PART THREE is available now!  

* Simon Moreton's MINOR LEAGUES #2 is available for pre-order!

* Janelle Asselin is stepping away from both ROSY PRESS and, seemingly, being a "Comics Personality and Commentator".

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 10/3/16 to 10/9/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* Brady Dale on Sarah Glidden's ROLLING BLACKOUTS and the concept of "comics journalism".

* Alenka Figa reviews Sam Bosma's FANTASY SPORTS #1, which "beautifully blends a fantasy quest with a sports story in an absurd way that feels fresh and fun."

* John Seven takes a look at S! #25 from kus!

* Tucker Stone keeps adding choice bits to his SPX 2016: THE HITS -- a bunch of mini "reviews" of things he picked up at the show.

WHATNOT

* Xavier Guilbert interviews SIMON MORETON about his recent work and "Team Weird"

* Dan Hill talks to KATIE SKELLY and SARAH HORROCKS about process and whatnot.

* Over on The Nib, Tom Kaczynski and Clara Jetsmark have published GREAT AGAIN, which explores how Trump's candidacy is a perfect storm of political nostalgia and nationalism.

* J. A. Micheline's LUKE CAGE'S MOMENT OF TRUTH: THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED.

* Sarah Horrocks is reviewing a HORROR MOVIE A DAY for October.

STILL Writing Reviews of Books from this Year's SPX

While Ray Sonne and Joe Schmidt write about some great books, I take the time to consider the artistry and implications of ESCAPE ROUTE by Daniel Zender

WHICH YOU CAN READ HERE

"Zender’s thick black and white art is reminiscent of old Brad Neely cartoons: static, yet awash in potential energy. Each panel verges on unfolding, yet its kineticism seems restrained; the act of placing them next to each other somehow makes the entire page vibrate. There’s an undeniable intent here.  You can’t help but trust that Zender is in command of what he is laying down in this book. He has provided you the details to an ever expanding complexity of storytelling, and he trusts you to let your brain do its magic. It’s hard not to love an artist who loves you back."

Review: OUR MOTHER by Luke Howard

My pal, Ray Sonne, and I take a look at 

OUR MOTHER by Luke Howard (published by Retrofit/Big Planet) 

for Comics Bulletin.

READ THE WHOLE THING HERE

"And this seems to ultimately be the thematic center of this book. A person can only contextualize their childhood experiences when they become an adult. The process of looking back creates a new understanding; we count on our future selves to make meaning of our present — a present that is in the past but informs who we are today."

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 9/26/16 to 10/2/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* Alex Hoffman on Gina Wynbrandt's SOMEONE PLEASE HAVE SEX WITH ME which "by being so absurd and also so forthright about the expression of her desire, confront the internalized misogyny of Western society that finds female desire or lust ugly/unattractive."

* Katie Skelly also reviews SOMEONE PLEASE HAVE SEX WITH ME and says, "While this book is deeply funny, the undercurrent of rage of someone who 'shouldn't even be around' as an undesirable is there, and I can't wait to see how it manifests next."

* Please do go read Claire Napier's beautiful review of Luke Healy's HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE NORTH.

* John Seven reviews Daryl Seitchik's EXITS which "takes a fairly obvious, well-worn bit of symbolism and manages to make the readers' familiarity with it into one of the work's strengths."

* Over on Mental Floss, Rich Barrett picks THE 14 MOST INTERESTING COMICS OF SEPTEMBER. Given the vagary of the implications of the term "interesting", I must agree that there are some "interesting" choices on this list.


WHATNOT 

* The new releases from kus! have landed. This slate of minis features four books by Michael DeForge, Ville Kallio, Daria Tessler, and Anna Sailamaa -- and they all look spectacular.

* RJ Casey interviews WARREN CRAGHEAD about his daily Donald Trump drawing project. 

* Andy Oliver interviews TILLIE WALDEN about her new webcomic, On A Sunbeam. 

* If you would rather listen than read, Sean Ford also interviews TILLIE WALDEN for Inkstuds. The echo on Walden's voice here is kind of amazing.

* Alex Dueben interviews ALEXIS DEACON about his new book from Nobrow Press, Geis.

* Ray Sonne is still talking about how great SPX was/is.

* Rob Clough also has a great overview/analysis of this year's SPX.

* Over on Loser City, Morgan Davis calls the new documentary, DANNY SAYS, about music biz legend Danny Fields, "cleverly executed and uniquely styled".

* Kayleigh Hughes writes about the year she edited erotic romance novels in her piece for Catapult, MY LIFE IN THE ROMANCE NOVEL INDUSTRY.

* Adam Kirsch's HEIDEGGER WAS REALLY A REAL NAZI.

Writing Reviews of Small Press Expo Books

For the past two weeks over on Comics Bulletin, I've been slowly making my way through the armful of books I picked up at this year's Small Press Expo.

THE FIRST SET OF REVIEWS CAN BE SEEN HERE.

THE BLACK HOOD edited by Josh Bayer and Mike Freiheit

WHAT HAPPENED by Simon Moreton and published by Kilgore Books

THE SECOND SET OF REVIEWS CAN BE READ HERE

I FEEL WEIRD #2 by Haleigh Buck

MY DEAD MOTHER by Clara Jetsmark and published by Uncivilized Books

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 9/19/16 to 9/25/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* Shea Hennum reviews Luke Howard's new release from Retrofit, OUR MOTHER, which "features the incompleteness and pervasive unknowability that makes a rendering of mental illness sensible without being insulting." 

* Megan Purdy writes about SOMEONE PLEASE HAVE SEX WITH ME by Gina Wynbrandt, "a working through and a deliberate exposure of her own vulnerabilities"

* Rob Clough on HOUSES OF THE HOLY by Caitlin Skaalrud, "an emotional narrative wrapped in symbols, fragments, and genuinely harrowing sequences."

* Greg Hunter reviews Tom Gauld's MOONCOP whose "rewards increase with a person's level of engagement." 

* John Seven on Leela Corman's WE ALL WISH FOR DEADLY FORCE

WHATNOT

* This sneak peek at ON A SUNBEAM, a new self-published, sci-fi style webcomic from the incredible Tillie Walden

* Tom Spurgeon interviews JESSICA CAMPBELL 

* Tobias Carroll interviews BEN KATCHOR

* Peggy Roalf has this very short interview with BENJAMIN MARRA

* Brian Hibbs weighs in on the whole DIRECT MARKET CONVERSATION 

* J. A. Micheline's thoughtful IT'S ABOUT ETHICS IN MARGANILIZED CRITICISM

* E. Thomas Finan's AN ESSENTIAL HUMAN RESPECT: READING WALT WHITMAN DURING TROUBLING TIMES

Writing Thoughts on SPX

So the Comics Bulletin Team sent a crack group of critics (and me) to this year's Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD.

Ray Sonne, Alison Baker, Christian Hoffer, J.A. Micheline, Joe Schmidt, and I all contributed to a little write up about our experience. Therein I make the assertion that 

COMICS CAN BE SPECTACULAR.

READ THE WHOLE THING HERE!

I ended up with a lot of new books